Posted by
Russell McOrmond-2 on
May 06, 2006; 9:40pm
URL: http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/Canada-Census-on-line-tp525p568.html
Daniel Haran wrote:
> That this is even an issue for Statscan just adds to my perception
> that decisions there are made by technically illiterate managers.
There is a large variety of highly technical people who believe that
software is something that should be "bought" like toasters, cars,
buildings, or other tangible assets should be bought. I do not believe
the problem comes out of a lack of "technical" knowledge, but a lack of
understanding of the public policy implications inherent in the
automation of public policy through software rules.
It is a "social sciences" policy problem, not a technical problem.
In fact, I believe most of the problems we see come from people
trusting/hiring "technically literate" people to solve problems which
have nothing to do with technology.
There are few that think of software as "rules which implement
policy", and categorize the acquisition of it the way way they would
consulting services from a lawyer. It has never seen it argued that a
legal opinion from a non-government lawyer is "proprietary knowledge"
that can not be disclosed to a citizen, and yet this is the nonsense at
play with software policy.
--
Russell McOrmond, Internet Consultant: <
http://www.flora.ca/>
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